Passaic Valley officials and residents are cautiously optimistic about a measure the Senate has passed to delay scheduled flood insurance premium increases, some of which are already underway, for residents now in flood hazard areas.

Should it pass in the Republican-majority House, the bill the Democratic-led Senate passed Thursday would delay the flood insurance hikes scheduled under the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.

That measure, commonly known as the Biggert-Waters Act, is having certain homeowners who bought their homes before they were in a designated flood hazard area and so were benefiting from subsidies in the National Flood Insurance Program, see 25 percent increases to their premiums each year until the new rates reach what the federal government considers to be a rate that accurately reflects the area's risk.

Residents like Hans Prell, 65, and his Little Falls neighbors on William Street, have already begun to see the increases to the flood insurance premiums by thousands of dollars. He wants to know if the measure will be retroactive should it go into effect.

"I already got my flood insurance bill and it already went up by a tremendous amount," he said, noting that he received the 25 percent increase on top of a regular yearly rate hike. "It went from $2,700 to $3,900."

He is not alone.

Joanne Bergin, Little Falls' township administrator, who has headed up flood mitigation initiatives in her municipality, said that 150 homeowners in her town receive the subsidies and are being impacted by the legislation. So she supports the Senate's new action to help in the short term.

"That's probably the most that they can do at this point since the subsidy is gone from the federal government's budget," she said. "That is helpful. It makes it less impactful in any one given year, but at the end of the day it is still going to be a huge impact on any family that is receiving the subsidy."

In his remarks broadcast from the Senate floor, Sen. Bob Menendez praised the measure.

"It is a bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation to ensure that families will be able to afford flood insurance so that they can stay in their homes, so that businesses can stay open and property values won't plummet," he said.

Specifically, if the measure goes into effect it would freeze federal flood insurance premium hikes on most properties until the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) completes an affordability study, scientifically certifies the accuracy of its flood maps, and provides solutions to mitigate the effects of the flood rate hikes, a statement from his office said.

Menendez said, "While we support putting the National Flood Insurance Program on a path to financial solvency, current law hikes rates so fast and so high that it will actually undermine the solvency of the program. These drastic increases will act as a de facto eviction notice for homeowners who have been in their homes and played by the rules their entire lives."

The measure now goes to the house for consideration. "Our fight is not over," Menendez said in a statement. "Now we must call on Speaker (John) Boehner and the House to pass this legislation so we can send it to the president to sign into law."

The hopeful news comes at a time when Prell knows of neighbors who have had trouble selling homes because buyers found out about the flood insurance hikes and are other of his neighbors want to leave the town but are ineligible for state and federal buyouts.

"You've got people there that would love to move out, but can't get in any programs to move out," he said.

Even those who are in a program to elevate homes in the flood hazard area are bearing the expenses associated such as moving out during construction, he said.

"It really is ridiculous. I don't know how people are going to afford this," Prell said of the rate hikes. "It is literally going to stagnate the market if someone is in a flood area and they have to carry a mortgage with some of these bills."

Bergin has said that many people in the flood area are "hanging on by a thread" financially and emphasized the benefits of the new bill.

"I've certainly heard a lot of positive support for it so I'm glad to see that," she said. "I am hopeful that it goes through and it takes effect. It's not a solution, but it's a help, and at this point we'll take all the help that we can get."

Neighboring Woodland Park likewise has a series of homes on Bergen Boulevard that have been abandoned subsequent to Passaic River flood damage, while many others have had to live with the cost of repairing their homes.

"You have people on the verge - on the brink of leaving their communities," said Councilwoman Tracy Kallert, whose home was found to be in a flood area after she moved there. "And this would have pushed them over the edge."